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The Best Cell Phone Carriers

You may not know this: There are well over 100 different cell phone carriers in the United States.

Aside from the big four - AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless - the vast majority are smaller carriers. You might not know that because the major cell phone carriers you're familiar with have the size and the clout to, well, make their voices heard.

Time for a cheaper cell phone plan?

While it can be challenging to sort out all the options, the good news is that you have plenty of choices if you plan on switching to a new carrier.

In this guide, we rank and evaluate our top picks for the best cell phone carriers based on coverage, plans, and overall value.

Read on to find the best cell phone carrier for your budget and needs!

The Best Cell Phone Coverage

Verizon Wireless Coverage

Verizon has long enjoyed a reputation for being the most reliable wireless network available. Mobile performance analyst RootMetrics agrees, rating Big Red first in reliability, speed, and overall service quality.

As far as Verizon Wireless coverage, however, OpenSignal reports that T-Mobile has edged Verizon out in terms of availability. The gap is tiny though, with T-Mobile customers receiving a 4G signal 93.14% of the time and Verizon customers sitting at 92.72% 4G availability.

AT&T Coverage

In terms of AT&T coverage, the carrier comes in third among the big four networks. Customers have a 4G LTE signal about 87% of the time, putting AT&T just ahead of Sprint coverage. AT&T's main coverage struggle is in rural areas.

As far as speed, reliability, text and call quality, and overall performance, RootMetrics puts AT&T in second place in every category it measures.

Sprint Coverage

Sprint has battled for years to lift itself out of last place, not only in terms of coverage but reliability and speed as well.

Sprint coverage gives you a 4G signal 85.66% of the time. Even though Sprint customers enjoy a fairly high percentage of 4G availability, the network labors under its lack of widespread 4G LTE service.

In fact, in September 2018 Sprint made a drastic move by publicizing graphics of its LTE coverage overlaid onto the other three major carriers' LTE maps. The results were abysmal, to say the least. Still, if you live in an area with strong Sprint coverage and don't travel throughout the US very much, using this carrier's network should be fine.

T-Mobile Coverage

As I mentioned earlier, T-Mobile has made great strides and by some measurements has overtaken long-time leader Verizon in terms of coverage and speed. This is all thanks to several technology upgrades the network continues to invest in.

T-Mobile boasts over 93% consistency with its 4G signal, and covers more than 99% of the US population. T-Mobile download speeds are no joke either, with OpenSignal reporting averages of more than 19.4 Mbps, a hefty advantage over Verizon's 17.8 Mbps.

Time for a cheaper cell phone plan?

The Best MVNOs

MVNOs - Mobile Virtual Network Operators - rent tower usage from the major carriers in order to provide you with the same LTE coverage, but at a lower premium.

For example, Metro by T-Mobile (formerly known as MetroPCS) is a T-Mobile MVNO. This means that if you're on MetroPCS, your phone runs on the T-Mobile network. Consumer Cellular is another T-Mobile MVNO, however, Consumer Cellular utilizes a combination approach, using the AT&T network as well to enhance carrier coverage. Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are both solely on the Sprint network.

Benefits of MVNOs:

There are multiple reasons to go with these alternative wireless carriers: